The decision to rebrand is a strategic one as the IT company has now moved beyond offering services directly related to the business of shipping. The company, a subsidiary of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, was established in 1981 to provide IT infrastructure and systems support to the local port community and the wider Caribbean maritime sector.

"We have entered a bold new world," Elaine Hayden, general manager of ADVANTUM, declared. "We have changed our image in keeping with the new suite of products being delivered since 2009," she said.

The new services include:

ADVANTUM Port & Agent Manager

ADVANTUM eLabour (electronic recruiting)

ADVANTUM Warehouse Management

ADVANTUM Payroll

ADVANTUM Financials

"We will extend our accumulated experience in offering services to a wider cross-section of customers, becoming a mainstream service provider," Hayden said. She underlined that the IT firm's commitment to its current customers has not diminished, stating that the company will seek to deliver a heightened level of service as part of its new thrust.

Focus

ADVANTUM focuses especially on systems development and maintenance, application hosting, hot site (backup) services, Internet and network services. ADVANTUM holds the distinction of being the pioneer in the computerisation of the Port of Kingston, one of the hemisphere's premier and most strategically located trans-shipment ports.

The ADVANTUM suite of solutions includes:

Application hosting on IBM AS400

Back-up and Disaster Recovery Services

Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains Reseller

Symantec Antivirus Reseller

Fortis Document Management Solution

HRA Human Resource Management Information System

ADVANTUM is poised as a leading solution provider with relevance for the shipping industry as its historic base with solutions applicable to all sectors and industries.